


A taste of Rosemary

by brophaner



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Emotional, F/F, I Don't Even Know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2019-03-25 02:00:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13824111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brophaner/pseuds/brophaner
Summary: Au in which Rose is a princess, her family's homophobic and Kanaya's born into slavery.This is a thing i wrote for my English Class. Enjoy. Or don't.  I don't really care.





	A taste of Rosemary

Once upon a time in a faraway land, there was a beautiful princess called Rose, she was 21 years old. Rose had blonde, shoulder length hair and lilac eyes. She could usually be seen wearing white and lilac clothes. On occasion she wore pink, other times purple and black. She liked colours that matched with one another. She had a father, a mother and a twin brother. The exemplary family.  
She had a grey cat who everyone had given a different name.  
She also had several mutated cats with many eyes and some even had two heads. They were her mother’s creation. How they come to exist, no one knew except for her mother.  
Rose’s family had strong views on the world and the environment. They had rules for the people in the kingdom: Peasants and rich people should not be mixed, gods were to be hidden in the void where they belonged, you must be fashionable and there could only be a man and a woman in a relationship.  
Rose did not have any problems with these rules. She was a good child.  
Still, she felt that the rules were kind of...mean? No, that could not be. The peasants should be down in the dirt where they belonged and love could only be found between a woman and a...man. She felt uneasy. She had never questioned the rules before, and figured out better not do it now.  
Her mother told the household that they would go down to visit a village. Why? Rose did not know, her mother was a woman of mystery.  
-Why are we going to the village, mother? Rose asked.  
-We are going to say hello to the poor people in the dirt. She chuckled.  
Rose did not pay any particular thoughts to the offensive things that her mother had just said, after all, she was used to this.  
She went upstairs to put on some suitable clothes to wear outside. A lilac and black striped dress with golden laces. Her family was not modest, they liked to show themselves off.  
She painted her lips in a dark violet and brushed her short blonde hair.  
After that she went downstairs to see her twin brother and their father having a talk about how to chase the birds off of the garden and keep them away. Rose’s brother proposed that they would upright shove a sword through them and their father didn’t seem to mind the idea. The gardener rushed up and apologized to the men and said that there were no killing necessary, they would take the matter in their own hands.  
-Just get that awful “caw caw” away, do whatever is necessary. Said Rose’s brother. The gardener rushed off and took care of the birds.  
A few minutes later, the mother came up to where they all were standing.  
-You’re late. Said the king.  
-All fancy people are late, darlin’. She said back. She waved her hand in the air and said,  
-Shall we go then?  
No one felt like arguing.  
They arrived at the village. It was indeed dirty and the people were poor.  
The family had not chosen to pay much attention to this particular village as it was so far away from the castle. Rose watched as a few of the people laid themselves on the ground, wanting to pay their respects to the royal family in hope to get more money and food to their village. Rose had never seen that before, people who needed help so bad that they literally laid down in in the dirt. She could see the royal army leading a group of slaves through the center of the village. They were chained together, foot to foot. Some of them were bleeding.  
She asked the captain why they were captured.  
-They did not obey orders from the royal guard. They never have and never will. We captured them and made them fine slaves. We will sell them to a lord overseas.  
He explained.  
Rose was wondering what they could have done to deserve this kind of treatment. She looked over at her family who were talking to a guard, nothing out of the ordinary. When she turned around her eyes met another pair. Innocent Jade eyes stared right at her.  
She could see a woman who appeared to be in Rose’s age, with short brown hair, chained together with the mass of slaves. The mystery woman was chained together with a similarly looking woman, but significantly older. Her mother, she figured out.  
She walked down to the guards and spoke to them.  
\- May i inquire as to why these two women are chained? She asked.  
-Oh, the green eyed freaks you mean? He corrected her.  
He proceeded to tell Rose that the older of the two was a woman named Dolora. Her duty was to take care of the babies at the orphanage, but when she wanted to care of a child that the other people said was too weak so that it would die, she abandoned her duties and ran away and hid. At that time she was pregnant but she still raised the weak child only to later see it die and herself become a slave, giving birth to the younger woman who she was now chained together with, Kanaya.  
So the younger woman, Kanaya was it, had been born into slavery.  
Rose thought to herself. She did think that what Dolora had done didn't deserve punishment.  
-I want to buy these two out of slavery. Said Rose.  
-Sorry your majesty, I will be beaten up if I lose any slaves. Her majesty the Queen’s orders. The guard answered. 

\- Then how about just this one.  
Rose said and placed a hand on Kanaya’s shoulder. Causing the brown haired woman to freeze.  
The guard had a puzzled look on his face, but Dolora just gave Kanaya a reassuring nod and told her  
-You deserve to be free. You have done no such crimes as I.  
The guard appeared to have heard what the older lady had said and felt compassion, because he finally gave in.  
Rose handed over some money and Kanaya were to follow her home.  
Together they went up to Rose’s family where Kanaya were introduced as Rose’s personal maid.  
As the time went on, the two women started to have feelings for one another.  
They would very often eat together and hug each other, which was scandalous, or so the rules said. They were careful to do this in private, because otherwise Rose’s family would be outraged.  
One day the two women were inside Rose’s room, chatting about the kingdom around them and some other subjects that just came up. Kanaya appeared to have the intellect and speech capacity of Rose, which made her a perfect conversational partner.  
Rose could not help but see how Kanaya’s jade eyes lit up with excitement when she was passionate about the subject. She could tell stories of what she had seen when she was a slave, all the beautiful places she had visited while in chains. What she described was breathtaking, beaches, fields full of flowers, colourful markets and old, cold ruins. Kanaya had apparently been sold to many places and worked as many different things together with her mother.  
She had such a genuine smile that lit up the room.  
Rose was completely stunned at this beauty in front of her.  
Kanaya saw that her mistress was very quiet so she asked,  
-Is anything the matter, my lady?  
Rose could feel her face heat up, a blush spreading on to her face. She took Kanaya’s hand and whispered into her ear,  
-Call me Rose.  
She leaned in and kissed Kanaya, who was not completely sure what was going on, but she liked it.  
It was a sweet moment. Breaking the rules felt so wonderful.  
What they did not know was that another servant, who had come to deliver news from the Queen, had seen them.  
I must tell this to the queen! They thought, and ran away.  
When the queen found out, she rushed up to Rose’s room to see the ladies holding hands on the bed, but letting go as soon as they noticed her.  
-Well, well, well. What have we here, huh? A non obedient princess and her servant.  
-You! You will pay for disobeying the queen’s rules!  
She was referring to Kanaya.  
-And you. She said to Rose.  
-My own daughter, how could you? YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE THIS ROOM UNTIL I SAY SO. GUARDS!! The queen shouted.  
Two of the guards dragged Kanaya away to the prison chamber, while two others locked Rose’s door and stood outside. Rose screamed,  
-SHE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS! SHE IS INNOCENT! LET HER GO!  
No one was listening. Rose cried, but she did not want to give up. She tried to find a way out of her room, but the door was guarded and her windom locked from the outside.  
After almost 3 days she had almost given up, when she remembered that she always kept a pair of needles in a chest in the corner of her room. She put on a purple short dress-coat with a brown hood, retrieved the needles and bent up the window lock. She quickly climbed down and landed on the grass outside. She rushed off to the prison chamber to find Kanaya, sitting in a corner, her stomach growling. They have not fed her. Rose immediately understood.  
-It will be alright, i will get you food. She said.  
She tiptoed into the kitchen, the only thing she could find was boiled water on the stove and bread on the counter. Must have flavour. Rose thought to herself. She went outside again and gathered a few mushrooms and a bit of rosemary. Rosemary is known for it’s strong flavour. She thought. She quietly walked into the kitchen and prepared the soup before bringing it to Kanaya. Rose handed Kanaya the food and told her  
-Don’t worry, my darling. I will get help.  
She kissed her hand and fled out to the villages. It was still dark outside, but Rose lit up a torch and it woke the people up. She informed them all about the situation, and the people, who had always known that Rose was the only person in the royal family who actually cared for their welfare, agreed to rise up against the monarchy. They spread the word to the other villages, and Rose had managed to gather a great amount of people who wanted change, who wanted freedom, who wanted to help Rose. They were off when the morning had started to come, and reached the castle just as the sun had started to rise above the morning clouds. A rock was thrown on a window, catching a servant’s attention. They saw the mass of people and the one in the front who seemed to be their leader, their princess, Rose.  
The servant called out to a nearby guard, who came to see what all the fuss was about. Several more people inside the castle came to see what was going on.  
After a while, the captain of the guards also came up. He saw the people and then went down the stairs and outside, calling at the other guards to come down too.  
-WHAT IDIOCY IS THIS?  
Asked the captain, clearly frustrated.  
-It is a rebellion.  
Rose explained.  
-STOP THIS FOOLISHNESS. YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE LOCKED INSIDE.  
Said the captain, now making his way toward the crowd.  
Rose raised her hand up in the air and shouted,  
-REBELLION!!  
The people rushed towards the guards and there was a fight. A fight in which the villagers overpowered the guards and finally stood up to the royal family.  
They captured the queen and king and tied them to their respective thrones, Rose’s brother was cooperative so he was not tied down.  
Rose went up to the guard that laid on the ground which held the prison key.  
She walked away, unlocked the prison-camber door and freed her love. Together they walked out in plain sight, for everyone to see, arms held around each other. They walked up to the thrones where Rose got down on one knee and in front of her outraged mother she asked Kanaya:  
-Will you marry me?  
To which Kanaya responded with a yes.  
As mentioned before, “Gods were to be hidden in the void where they belonged” meaning that there were no priests. Only one person could officiate marriages, and that was a person whose profession had been passed down through their generation for as long as anyone can remember. It was the Maraka family. This time the profession had been passed down to a young man called Carlos. Carlos was a childhood friend of Rose and he felt that being the one to make his friend married to the one she loved would be an honour. Dolora was invited, wearing the prettiest dress that she could find. She sat far away from the royalty as she knew of the rules. She watched her daughter and felt so proud, she cried a bit. The ceremony was held as soon as the sun shone through the castle’s highest placed window, thus indicating that it was midday.  
Both women were dressed in beautiful dresses, wearing the shiniest of jewelry and wore the truest of smiles as they walked up to Carlos who declared them Wives.  
When they kissed, Rose’s parents eyes opened for the first time, so love can be found between anyone huh, they thought. Rose’s mother came to the realization that she has been wrong about everything. She called on her mutated cats, who with their sharp claws, tore the ropes to pieces. She ran straight up to Dolora and gave her a hug, whispering,  
-Sorry for being so blind, I am so, so sorry! If there’s anything I can do then tell me!  
Dolora was choked at this gesture of kindness but wrapped her arms around the other woman and said,  
-Your sincerity is enough, truly, but there is one thing that I would like to ask.  
-Please tell me.  
Said the queen  
-May I get my job back? Being without children has hurt me a lot more than anything else I’ve been put through.  
Dolora explained.  
-Of course you may, you were the best child nurse we’ve ever had. It would be an honour to have you back.  
The queen answered.  
From that day on, the kingdom was a beautiful and peaceful place, ruled by Rose and her wife Kanaya when the old queen retired.  
The two women adopted a child from the kingdom’s orphanage. The very same department where Dolora was working. She had become a great friend of the royal family. When the child grew up, he would get to know the story of how his mothers fought for equality, for true love.  
Years passed and their child got his own family.  
He told his children the same story as his mothers had told him, and they passed it on to future generations.  
As we all know, in life comes love, but after life comes death. It is inescapable.  
As Rose laid on her deathbed, holding Kanaya’s hand, she whispered,  
-Do you remember when I gave you that soup, when you were in prison?  
Kanaya answered yes.  
-I put rosemary in it, to get some taste.  
Kanaya had tears in her eyes as she responded,  
-It tasted wonderful.  
Rose smiled. Said thank you. Gave Kanaya one last kiss, closed her eyes and then she was gone.  
Kanaya felt very sad, feeling that her time would come soon, however, she was determined to do one thing before she died.  
She gathered the people in the kingdom, held a speech to the tailors, then fell asleep next to her wife.  
From that day and forward, on the kingdom’s flag there sways a rosemary.  
The plant that would show everyone the strong taste of freedom and love. Of life.


End file.
